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What is the best time to visit Tanzania?
June to October and December to March are the best times to visit Tanzania. The first is the dry season and the Serengeti's peak; the second is the calving season and much better value.
The wildebeest are in Tanzania for about nine months a year, not three. They calve in the southern Serengeti from January to March, move northwest in May and June, cross into Kenya from late July, and are back by December.
Calving is the thing only Tanzania has. Around half a million calves are born in two to three weeks, peaking in February, on the short-grass plains near Ndutu. Predators follow, so it is the best big-cat viewing of the year.
Long rains March to May, short rains November to December. Zanzibar takes more than ten times as much rain in April as in July. Dar es Salaam follows the same pattern.
Tanzania Travel Packages
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6 Days Kenya Tanzania Safari Package
Masai Mara National Reserve(2N) → Serengeti National Park(2N) → N...
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Wild Portraits Sa...(5.0
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8-Day Best of Kenya and Tanzania Safari Adventure Package
Masai Mara National Reserve(2N) → Serengeti National Park(2N) → N...
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Wild Portraits Sa...(5.0
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The Circle of Life: A 5 day Calving Season Safari in Ndutu Tanzania
Serengeti National Park(4N)
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Wild Portraits Sa...(5.0
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9 Day Kenya and Tanzania Signature Safari
Lake Nakuru National Park(1N) → Masai Mara National Reserve(2N) → ...
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Leopard Orchid Sa...(5.0
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9-Day Great Serengeti Migration Safari
Arusha(1N) → Tarangire National Park(1N) → Lake Manyara National ...
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Lights On Africa ...(5.0
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8 Nights 9 Days Kenya & Tanzania Wildlife Safari
Masai Mara National Reserve(3N) → Serengeti National Park(2N) → A...
More about Best Time to Travel to Tanzania
Peak Dry Season in Tanzania: June to October
June to October is dry, cool and the busiest. Days run about 25°C to 30°C on the plains and considerably cooler in the highlands, with almost no rain.
Water sources shrink so game concentrates, and the Serengeti's herds move north through the western corridor and out towards the Mara. Rates are at their annual high and the good camps need booking many months out.
The Great Migration, Month by Month
January to March: calving on the southern Serengeti short-grass plains, around Ndutu and Ngorongoro. Peaks in February.
April to May: long rains, herds still in the southern and central Serengeti, beginning to move.
May to June: northwest through the western corridor, with the Grumeti River crossings.
Late July to October: in Kenya's Masai Mara, having crossed the Mara River.
November to December: back south into the Serengeti, ready to calve again. So the herds are in Tanzania for roughly nine months of the twelve.
Calving Season and the Short Dry Season: January to March
January to March is the short dry season and the calving season, and it is the best-value window of the year. Days are hot, around 25°C to 31°C, and mostly dry.
Half a million wildebeest calves are born in two to three weeks around February on the Ndutu plains, and every predator in the ecosystem is there. Fewer vehicles and lower rates than the June-to-October peak.
Rainy Seasons: November to December and March to May
The short rains fall November to December as afternoon showers. Game drives still run, birdlife is excellent and rates drop until Christmas.
The long rains fall March to May and April is the wettest month, on the coast and on Zanzibar alike. Roads get muddy and some camps close. This is the cheapest and quietest time in the country, and the greenest.
Zanzibar and the Coast
June to October is the best window on Zanzibar, and July is its driest month. The Kaskazi and Kusi monsoons drive the pattern rather than temperature, which barely moves.
January is the other good month, the short dry gap between the November and December showers and the March long rains. Avoid April, the wettest month of the year by a wide margin. ZIFF, the Zanzibar film festival, runs in late June in Stone Town.
Climbing Kilimanjaro
Avoid March to May and November. Those are the long and short rains, and they make the lower forest sections miserable and the summit night worse.
Late June to October is the main climbing window, dry and cold, and late December to February is the second, warmer and clearer but busier over the holidays. Full moon nights are popular for the summit push, so they book out first.
Best Time to Visit Tanzania by Interest
- Serengeti and Ngorongoro: June to October, and January to March
- Calving season and big cats: February
- Grumeti river crossings: May and June
- Climbing Kilimanjaro: late June to October, late December to February
- Zanzibar beaches and diving: June to October, and December to February
- ZIFF in Stone Town: late June
Saba Saba in Dar es Salaam: 7 July - Birdwatching: November to December, and March to May
- Lowest prices: April and May
